ROME—Italian Government is seeking to identify this tourist, who carved the name of his girlfriend, “Hayley”, into the wall of the Colosseum.
Do NOT visit a country and deface historical and/or sacred landmarks.
— Bree A Dail (@breeadail) June 26, 2023
It’s not looking good for this tourist, who was clocked carving ‘Ivan+Haley 23’ into the Colosseum’s 1,951 year old travertine limestone wall this week. Not only are the police looking for him, but local Italians want a word with him too, and he’s also looking at a 15,000 euro (£13,000) fine, according to the NY Post.
I guess he should count himself lucky that we’re not living in the old days, where he’d probably he thrown into the Colosseum itself and made to fight for his life against a lion in front of a capacity crowd. Some Italians would probably think that’s a suitable punishment for Ivan in 2023, too. I mean, will that 15,000 euro fine even cover the repair costs? Well, probably, but hear me out. Throw Ivan to the lions, sell tickets for it, and boom – the wall’s paid for. You could even let him have a sword and if he manages to escape with his life, then fair play.
Ivan might even take that deal right now, because it could be a whole lot worse for him if the Italian police, or worse – the Italian people – get a hold of him. It’s bad enough being a tourist breaking your laws but being a tourist who defaces historical monuments? I don’t fancy his chances. Hopefully his girlfriend was suitably impressed with the carving, though.
For the mafia fugitive caught after posting Italian cooking recipes on YouTube, click HERE.
